COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONOur winter ale will warm your winter with a round toasty body and a vibrant finish of Cascade, Willamette, Fuggles and Goldings hops. A rich ale, this award-winning classic ages well -- enjoy its complexity and earthy oakness long after the snow has melted away.

You gotta love this one, it has it all: malts overflowing, caramel, and enough spices to float Istanbul's spice market AND a very cool GOOSE! I've liked this beer for the past 10 years. Heavy though -- just get the appetizers and not the main course when your on this one. Cheers!

Bottle from 1997 thanks to Andy at Blippís going away tasting. Pours a clear brown with a thin tan head. Old malt and soy sauce on the nose, umami. Old chocolate ice cream, soy sauce. Long tannins and chocolate, old malt. Old. Very old.

After 4 years in the dark cellar alll alone, pours amber thicker with a ton of sediment and beige head. Aroma brings sweet malts with aging character, started to turn a big. Flavor brings the sweet aged malt flavors as well, maintaining the English style with honey like notes, not piercing sweetness at all. It aged pretty well for 4 years!

Too many gooses in the name for my liking. Fortunately, itís a good beer so it makes up for that. A nice mahogany pour. Aroma is dark malt, citrusy hops, and some floral notes. Flavour is mildly sweet, with a bitter finish.

Reviewed from notes.
Pours a moderate brown with a fairly thin head. A bit of the head remains after some time, although the remainder doesnít leave much lacing as it goes down. The nose has got a surprising amount of hop activity with a good amount of pine and citrus. Some caramel and light molasses in the back. The taste brings forward some of the hop elements without too much bitterness. Some light doughy flavors with a bit of toast. Light to medium body. Drinks pretty well overall for a winter warmer and certainly bucks the insane spicing trend.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 10-21-2010

Pours a gorgeous, crystal-clear ruby liquor with a half-inch off-white head that melts into Belgian lace that persists. The aroma is floral, but not entirely pleasant to my nose for some reason.
The brew however is a well-balanced, bitter sweet interplay of hop and malt with a pleasantly long, mildly bitter finish. I donít think it is oak aged, but it has some of the taste notes I associate with oak. Very nice.

Mars-red pour with a thin fizzly white head. Aroma is dark fruits, molasses, caramel, and toasted malts. Tastes slightly sweet at first, with a lot of the more wintery ingredients coming into play. Finish is bitter but clean, with some resin hop character. Palate is on the lighter side of medium, somewhat voluminous but thin enough to remain drinkable. Overall fairly good. Nothing mind blowing here, a very modest improvement over the typical bland winter ale.

2010 version. Iím disappointed. Iíve not had one of these in probably 10 years but they used to be very good, at least in my mind. Pours a deep amber with a creamy tan head that laces nicely and hangs around. aroma is malts, toasty, sweet, with some earthiness and spice, but it is faint. Has a medium full body, smooth in the mouth, medium carbonation and a thin finish. On the tongue getting bready, toasty, and sweet malts. Not mush, if anything, in the way of hops. with a thin, unsatisfying finish. I think it will be 10 years before I try again. Unfortunately, I bought a 6-pack.

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